A mid month catch up: July

Why hello there pals, and how wonderful of you to be here.

How are we all? I’m currently in bed, two crumpets with marmite down and hoping that the spider I can see in the corner doesn’t scuttle into my mouth while I’m asleep later. It’s a nice position to be in for tapping out what will undoubtedly be utter drivel to you all, except for the spider thing, but probably not the most productive of spaces (as evidenced by the crumpets and the fact that I’ve been trying to start this for about an hour now).

July started on a Monday; people say this all the time, but it really is a very satisfying way for the first day of a month to fall. It also started with a girls night, which was a very welcome evening of eating vegan pizza and garlic bread surrounded by some of my favourite women.

I even had the privilege of receiving two birthday presents; a side effect of grown up life and everyone being so busy all the time seems to be that your birthday stretches out longer than ever, and that’s certainly something I can’t complain about.

My headspace this month has mostly been occupied with work, which I’m quite focused on at the moment, probably due to the fact that after a change in my role earlier this year, it feels challenging again – and in a pretty good way. I’m never sure how much to go into work on here (my ‘other job’, as we refer to it in my day job), but I do spend 8 hours a day there, firmly putting it in the ‘big part of my life’ category.

Aside from that, July has brought with it a lot of social occasions – various evening plans, a lovely event on the Norfolk Broads, a night out for my friend’s birthday, and plenty of meeting people for lunch too.

And I don’t want to jinx it, but somewhere in the middle of all that, I *think* I might have finally gotten back into a sort of routine with blog posts – by which I mean that I have actually written and published some that aren’t a month apart.

I haven’t quite managed to sink into the process of writing them as much as I would like to, but I’m sure I’ll get there. I’ve definitely reacquainted myself with the fact that I work best alone and in silence, and with a few things in mind that I’d like to write about, I’m excited to schedule myself in some solo time to tap away in the quiet.

Another thing I’m hoping July will include more of is reading. I read The Tattooist of Auschwitz last week (and bawled my eyes out, obviously) and I’m about to start a newish Sebastian Faulks book, my plunder from a recent Sainsburys food shop (although I have to say that the inclusion of a review from the Daily Mail on the front cover does not endear it to me).

What else has July brought me? Okay: STRANGER THINGS 3. I don’t watch much TV day to day and don’t commit myself to shows often, so when I like something, I am FULLY INVESTED. I haven’t actually finished it yet – the time just hasn’t been there, and something this good deserves our full attention – but we have two episodes left and I don’t want it to end because I just love it so so much. The hair! The humour! The outfits, guys! We’re going to the Stranger Things Secret Cinema in a few months and I’m extremely eager about the dressing up aspect of it. I want to get myself to some vintage shops and seek out some 80s pieces so I can really get myself in the Hawkins zone.

And hopefully I’ll be all clued up on where’s best to look for them, since I’m almost a month into Slow Fashion Season now and have started to dip my toes into Norwich’s vintage and secondhand scene. Since I only published my first post about Slow Fashion Season last week, now is probably not the time for an update on that. It’s going well, I’ve found it relatively easy (spoiler: because it is) but I do think I will start to get a touch of longing for the specific pleasure of a new item of clothing soon.

I definitely don’t need anything else new though, because for the rest of this month and probably into August too I’m on a bit of a mission to clear out the sheer amount of stuff that’s already occupying our flat. Aside from that, I failed to get a holiday booked by the end of June, so I guess that’s something I’ll be looking to rectify in the next few weeks. August brings the wedding of one of my favourite people in the world, and I’m nothing short of delighted and also already embarrassed at the amount I’m going to cry.

How’s July for you?

p.s my August mid-month catch up post will be my last of the series; I’d like to continue with a regular monthly post of some sort, but I’m feeling a change in the format of it. I’m not sure what the replacement will look like yet, so if there’s anything in particular you’d be interested in, stick it in the comments – I’d love to hear what people think!

What I’m wearing

Dress – New Look | Bag – C/O Accessorize | Jacket – Vintage | Sunglasses – C/O Parafina